Extremely useful Thailand travel guide for Bangkok - My Bangkok Trip

10/18/2013

Many people always ask - What are the things to do in Bangkok? This is a very extensive and comprehensive guide to travel in Bangkok for ...

Many people always ask - What are the things to do in Bangkok? This is a very extensive and comprehensive guide to travel in Bangkok for you to read before planning a trip to Bangkok. I'm no professional tourguide whatsoever, but these are the information I find it very useful for myself, considering I've been to Thailand three times.

Should you have any questions, you can leave a comment below and I will be glad to answer your doubts :)

So here goes!

1. Get a travel map from the airport

First thing first, get a travel map from the airport because it’s the most detailed one. I used the map shown in the photo throughout my whole trip and it more or less provided me enough information for me to find the place I wanted to go. Equipped not only with landmarks, it also comes with the train (Bangkok BTS) railway route for tourists who travels mainly by train instead of cab.

2. Travel from Airport to Hotel (And vice versa)

So the burning question is, should I take a cab or the train to my hotel? This applies to all common hotel areas like Pratunam, or somewhere near the weekend market Chatuchak (Jatujak).

Now that I’ve been through two travelling ways on my two trips to bangkok, I personally feel that taking the Suvarnabhumi Airport's Rail Link is much faster and cheaper. It costs only 40 baht per person to travel from Suvarnabhumi to Ratchaprarop BTS station, and takes only about 30 to 45 mins. While on the other hand, taking a cab may take about the same time, it definitely cost much more money (200-300 baht). Then of course, a bigger group can choose to take a cab because they can share the cost, but it still can’t beat the cheap train tickets.

PS: Ratchaprarop BTS station is at the Pratunam area, which also means popular malls like Platinum Fashion Mall and Pratunam Morning Wholesale Market are found here.

I’m not sure about you, but one of the things to do in Bangkok is to enjoy their street food. They can satisfy me for my three meals so there’s no need for me to visit restaurants. Read my post on 15 delicious street food in Bangkokand you’ll know why I am so spoilt for choices for the food.

For seafood, you should visit T & K Seafood Restaurant at Bangkok China Town area. I was there the first time but I didn’t thought I would want a seafood feast for the second time.

For cafes, read my post on 5 cafes to visit in Bangkok (coming up soon) and you probably would want to pick a few just to experience the café style in Bangkok. Some of the cafes are affordable but some are a little expensive for eating in Bangkok.

4. Travelling – Cab, train or tuk tuk?

What is the best way to travel around Bangkok? I would say different transport means are meant for different locations, depending on the distance. Oh by the way, always bargain prices (REASONABLY, don't simply haggle from their quoted 200baht to 20baht, that's unreasonable) with the cab and tuktuk drivers. A short distance travel should be around 100-200 baht only. Here’s a brief breakdown in my opinion, on the transportation in Bangkok:

Cab: For long distance travel. Try your very best to get one that uses the travelling meter. This was what happened to me: I had to travel from Pratunam area to Pata Pinklao because my uni friends were staying at this residential area away from Bangkok city area for their stay for University Exchange. We had to cross a long bridge in order to reach our destination, and the ride was 45 mins. Many taxi drivers quoted us 300 baht but when we returned from Pata Pinklao, a taxi which runs by meter only cost 100 baht. That is the difference. Cabs are also more advisable for people travelling in groups, preferably in fours as they can share the costs.

Tuk Tuk: Definitely short distance travel because they are not very safe, and it’s opened air. I only took tukuk once because I couldn’t stand breathing in all the petroleum gas especially while we stopped for the traffic light. It just isn’t healthy you know. Some tuktuk drivers are safe, but the only one I took was crazily fast and well, fun I guess. To avoid the traffic jam, he took many short cuts using small alleys and even went against the traffic flow! It was an insane and unforgettable tuktuk ride, but one does not need to experience it many times right…

Train: It depends on where you are going. Factor in the travelling time, the distance and the train fare to decide between cab or train. Sometimes if it’s only a few train stops, you probably want to travel by train. As it was only my boyfriend and me this time for the second trip, taking a cab wouldn’t be wise because there’s only 2 person sharing the cab fare (aiya we just take turns to pay, don’t have to be so calculative). But if travelling by train takes more than 7-8 stops and you even have to change BTS line to reach your destination, the time and effort might not be worth it. So it’s up to your own discretion.

5. Bargaining/ haggling prices

Come on, I know when you think of Bangkok malls, you think of bargaining because they are notoriously known to set prices very high for tourists in order to buffer for some price haggling.

But not for street stalls please. The food only costs 20-50 baht, the most going up to 100 baht and I find them absolutely reasonable and cheap, so please do not bother haggling the price and let the poor people earn the money.

For apparels and clothing, that is necessary. My experiences proved me that the stall owners will always set high prices to buffer for prices bargaining. At your own discretion, decide if you would want to walk off while haggling the price so that the owner would give in to you. Sometimes, your demand might be too much and the owner would probably care less to entertain you. Try to buy more pieces from a stall to enjoy bulk discount too.

6. Shopping

At Bangkok Pratunam morning wholesale market

Another burning question – Where exactly should I shop bangkok? Depending on your budget, there are several shopping places that are divided into 3 tiers in my opinion for shopping in bangkok,

The first tier belongs to the rich people, where you see branded products that can be found internationally. To state a few examples, they are Charles and Keith, Espirit, H&M and prestige brands like Rolex and Kate Spade. Malls that carry such brands are Terminal 21 and Siam Paragon.

The second tier includes malls like MBK, where prices are a little high but you can still find some cheap items here.

And the last tier is of course malls for unstoppable shopping, especially for the ladies. And it goes without me saying, Platinum Fashion Malls are the best places to shop.

But I think tourists who want to do cheap shopping commonly miss this out – Pratunam Morning Market/ Pratunam Wholesale Market, which I found out that they open as early as 7am, and closes at 10am or so!! That is so crazy because when I went out for breakfast, I couldn’t find the stalls anymore when I was back at 11am. So for the subsequent days, I diligently woke up at 6.30am or so, left for shopping at 7am and probably spent the most at the Pratunam Market.

7. Shopping bags/ plastic bags

While shopping in bangkok, try to think environmentally friendly too. Avoid getting plastic bags for all your purchases because at the end of the day, you’ll just going to throw away the plastic bags in your hotel room. You are never going to use so many plastic bags, trust me. Just get one plastic bag from your first purchase, and stuff the rest into the same plastic bag until it’s full. Alternatively, get a huge plastic bag from a shop that you bought more than 1 apparel, and you can stuff in the rest of your purchase. This not only helps the earth, but also helps yourself because you do not have to carry too many things at once.

8. Thai Massage

The common massages found areThai Body Massage, Foot Massage and Head & Shoulder Massage. They all cost about 250-300 baht. The slightly pricier massages are Oil Massage and Aroma Massage, which costs 350-400 baht.

I’ve tried body, foot and aroma massage on different nights. Personally, I think Thai full body massage is the best.

9. Hotels

Hotel location is rather important because ideally your hotel should be near the common shopping areas (read point 6). Both my hotel stay were in Pratunam area and they were all near Platinum Fashion Mall and Pratunam Market. The hotels that I’ve stayed here are Budacco Hotel and Citin Pratunam Market. These hotels are near the famous Baiyoke Sky Hotel, so whenever I want to take a cab back to my hotel, I just tell the cab driver “Baiyoke Sky” and they know where to go already. Honestly, they would not know the locations of small little hotels because there are just too many.

Read my review on Budacco Hotel (coming up), which is my preferred hotel compared to Citin Pratunam Hotel. Budacco ("Budget accommodation") was newly opened in 2009 so the furnitures are relatively new. But one weird thing is, the sink basin is actually outside the toilet because the toilet is too small. I know… weird right.

10. Visiting tourist areas

If it's your first time visiting Thailand, perhaps one of the things to do in Bangkok is to visit their tourist areas. Related to point 9, Buddaco hotel provides complimentary one day trip which they have liaised with a tour agency on. My options are Floating market, The Grand Palace and Buddha Temple. The complimentary trip includes transport but excludes admission ticket (if applicable). My boyfriend and I decided to go on the tour to the Grand Palace, and in fact we opted for an additional tour the next morning at 300 baht per person to the floating market, and I never regret paying that money! I love the food at floating market, and I enjoy the experience of sitting beside the lake eating a piping hot bowl of noodles. I enjoy watching the locals cooking on a long tail boat and absolutely not affected by the slight waves.

Alright! This sure is a comprehensive guide on travelling in Bangkok, Thailand! I hope you have gained much information about Bangkok and of course all my personal experiences that I’ve gain after being there twice. I am sure I will be back to this Land of Thousand Smiles again.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to drop a comment and I will try to answer you ;)

Celine Chiam is a Singapore Lifestyle, Beauty and Fashion blogger. Welcome to her world of beauty reviews, travelogues and every day tips! She's on #dayre (@chiamhuiy) and instagram (@chiamhuiy) as well.

You are looking gorgeous in that dress....i also visit Bangkok so many times with my girlfriend and always travel through rental taxi. It is one of my romantic tourist destination in world and i love to enjoy their food,night life,culture. Thanks for sharing plenty of information about Bangkok with these wonderful pics.

Hello there! I must tell you the blog post is really good. It is very informative. I want to mention one thing that I like the way you write the post to the point. I really appreciate and keep writing!

Very useful information here. I am so lucky to find this blog. Actually next year I will go for holidays to Bangkok with my family. Before going to our trip, I wanted to know something about Bangkok and I got it. Thanks a lot for sharing these tips.

You must really love Bangkok. I also like the place especially their food and temple. There's so much to explore there. Thanks for this wonderful tips. If you have time please check out my getting around bangkok post http://bangkok.klapsons.com/getting-around-bangkok/

Hi babe! I'm glad I came across your blog with simplified tips on a BKK trip. :)I'd like to know more about Bangkok places of interest for tourists that will be going there for the very first time. Any suggestions on where to go, how to get there from the city centre and whether or not it's advisable to get a guided tour/package (which may be costly) or free and easy is still the best option? Thanks so much! I can't wait to here from you.PS: I'll be visiting BKK this May with my mom and planning to stay at the Baiyoke Sky Hotel. ;)

Hi babe! I'm so glad I've come across your blog. It's very informative yet simplified. ;)I'd love to know more about it, 1)like what are the best places of interest to visit in BKK for tourists coming for the first time, 2) is it advisable to get a guided/package tour from the agencies or it's still best to go around free and easy (even for first timers)?. Thanks so much and I'd love to hear from you very sooonnnnn!PS: I'll be visiting BKK this coming May with my mom, we're also planning to stay at Baiyoke Sky Hotel. Do you think it's a good choice? <3

I didn't hear good things about Baiyoke Sky Hotel. Heard it's old and expensive. If your mum is fine with boutique hotel, I think Lemontea hotel or many other boutique hotels in Bkk are pretty good. Do a search online :)

I think there won't be any difference to the tour packages, in fact I would recommend getting from hotel so that if anything happens, your hotel can help you settle. But that also depends if you're a risk-taker. Outside vendors might even be cheaper! Again, search online :)

BKK is really usually for shopping and eating. You can read my itinerary on this :)